As I sit on my bed, completely worn out, I think about the events of today. Yes, I am tired, but it is a good kind of tired. Today was the start of the actual Washington center events. What started as a simple icebreaker in the first few minutes of today’s activities had turned into an entire room of students, faculty, and Washington Center employees joining in singing the United States national anthem. The speakers of today included the Steve Scully of C-SPAN and Ben LaBolt, the senior advisor of the presidential inauguration committee.

As my ride drove up to the Solaire apartment building in Silver Spring, Maryland around 2 pm this afternoon, the full reality of this opportunity had set in. I was finally here at the place that I would be staying at for the next ten days during the presidential inauguration seminar. I was exhausted, yet still the excitement of the whole experience made the tired feeling go away. As I checked in and received everything I would need for the next week, my nervousness and anticipation of the upcoming events grew.

As I sat on my overstuffed suitcase to zip it up, the reality that I would be in D.C. for the Presidential Inauguration Seminar finally set in. I had not been overly nervous up until that moment when what seemed a dream became a reality. I was going to be in our nation’s capital for the first time in my life by tomorrow. Being able to visit such a place during a historical moment in the making is certainly a blessing.